STAP and Battle Droid

Last updated: Oct. 10, 2006, 11:55 p.m.

About two years ago now I was given the AMT/ERTL "Stap and Battle Droid" Kit. It's like an Airfix kit by a different manufacturer, so all little tubes of polycement and pots of model enamel. Anyway, after two years most of which time the model has spent sitting around with a base spray coat of paint but no detailing I have finally finished it. So here it is for you to see.

Pictures

Battle Droid Head: A detailed view of the head and upper torso showing detail painting.

Battle Droid Torso: Another view of the upper part of the droid, showing the detailing again.

STAP Front: An overall view of the assembled model.

STAP Right: A side view showing the droid in riding position.

Construction Notes

Well, it was quite a satisfying model to build. I basically built the two parts (STAP and Battle Droid) completely and then sprayed them with a base colour. I felt when detailing the STAP that it would have been good to have detailed the structure linking the engine and guns sections before assembly. The battle droid because of its single colour paint scheme is well suited to spraying once assembled.

The most important bit of detailing on the droid was general wear and tear. You can see what I've done in the close up photos. I achieved the worn effect using a dark grey paint which I dry brushed on. If you are unfamiliar with the technique of dry brushing, basically you just don't put much paint on your brush and rub it over raised areas to create a rubbed or worn un-even finish. Try it on some scrap first.

The trickiest bit by far was attaching the two models together, all the joints on the droid are articulated so getting it to stay in place while the glue sets can be challenging. I used lots of props and tape, clamps and rubber bands. PVC insulating tape (electrical tape) seems to work well and doesn't leave any adhesive residue or take any paint off. I ended up cutting one of the two supports on each of the foot pad parts of the STAP and sticking the droid on before gluing the supports back together. This is because the ankles on the droid have no articulation so it would never work properly without adjusting those foot plates. other than that plenty of glue on all the joints then touch up the paint afterwards.